1. As a high school student, Jerry studies art at the California
School of Fine Arts in North Beach on weekends and summer sessions.
2. Jerry's full name was Jerome John Garcia - named after the great
broadway musical composer Jerome Kern.
3. Jerry was surrounded by music as a child; his mother listened to
opera, his father was a professional musician, and when his family
got together, they would have sing alongs.
4. Jerry lost the middle finger of his right hand - his brother
accidentally chopped it off splitting wood.
5. His third grade teacher encouraged him to draw pictures, paint
murals and make ceramics.
6. Having asthma as a child, Jerry spent a lot of his time in bed
reading.
7. Jerry was an avid collector of comic books.
8. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream named a flavor, "Cherry Garcia," after
him - the first ice cream flavor to be named after a musical legend.
9. In Jerry's first gig, his band won a contest and a to record a song.
They chose Bill Doggett's "Raunchy."
10. Jerry enlisted in the army at age 17, but was dishonorably discharged
just nine months later.
11. Jerry's first playing gig came with his future songwriting partner,
Bob Hunter. Named "Bob & Jerry," each earned $5.
12. Early in his life, Jerry was torn between music and art, but realized
he couldn't concentrate on two art forms at once. He chose music,
because he enjoyed the interaction and creativity of others working
together.
13. Some of his early influences were Joan Baez and the New Lost City
Ramblers; he incorporated and expanded their technique to create his
own artistry.
14. Garcia loved to play the five-string banjo, which inspired him to
organize a bluegrass band in 1962 - the Hart Valley Drifters, later
called the Wildwood Boys.
15. In the spring of 1963, Jerry and Sarah Ruppenthat performed as
"Jerry & Sarah," playing acoustic music from the 1920's and 1930's.
Later that year, she became Jerry's first wife.
16. Jerry performed in several groups that only existed for a gig or
two: the Thunder Mountain Tub Thumpers, the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers,
the Wildwood Boys, and the Black Mountain Boys.
17. Garcia met Bob Weir and decided to assemble a jug band - Mother
McCree's Uptown Jug Champions - featuring instruments such as the jug,
washtub bass, harmonica, washboard and the kazoo.
18. Jerry and Mother McCree's took their music in a different direction.
They started using electric instruments, and then changed the name of
thier group to the Warlocks.
19. Jerry didn't read musical notes; rather he improvised by playing by
ear and feel.
20. The Warlocks, realizing that there already was a band playing under
that same name, decided to change it. After numerous names that were
no good, Jerry got a dictionary, opened it, and came across the words
grateful dead.
21. Jerry's dad, Jose Ramone Garcia, emigrated from Spain in 1919.
22. Jerry, along with the likes of Janis Joplin, became known as one of the
originators of the "San Francisco" sound.
23. Garcia would often develop intense themes in the middle of songs,
making this improvisational style of playing the Grateful Dead's trademark.
24. Garcia produced Jefferson Airplane's second album, Surrealistic
Pillow, but only got credit as being a spiritual advisor.
25. Jerry earned his nickname "Captain Trips" because of his interest
in LSD excursions.
26. Garcia's love for bluegrass and old-time music led him to form a
number of side groups over the years while playing in the Grateful Dead.
27. Garcia was not happy with both his and the Dead's performance at
Woodstock, calling it a disappointment.
28. Jerry started performing in a country-western band called the New
Riders of the Purple Sage - the New Riders even opened for the Grateful
Dead for awhile.
29. Jerry loved to play several types of music, including folk, bluegrass
country, rock 'n' roll and acid rock.
30. Jerry played all the instruments except for the drums in his first
solo album, titled Garcia.
31. Jerry's second album was also titled Garcia, but later became known
as Compliments of Garcia because there was a promotional sticker that
said "Compliments of" on the cover.
32. The Jerry Garcia Band was his second longest-lived music group -
the Gratedful Dead was the first.
33. Having a strong passion for the visual aspect of art, Jerry helped
create The Grateful Dead Movie, working on the soundtrack and editing.
34. Jerry's second wife, Carolyn Adams, was nicknamed Mountain Girl.
35. Born on August 1, 1942, Jerry was his parents' second and final child.
36. Garcia was selected as the Bay Area Musician of the Year in 1980 through
a readers' poll in Bay Area Music magazine.
37. Jerry collaborated with members of Saturday Night Live and developed
skits around Grateful Dead Folklore, including a bit entitled "Jerry's Kids."
38. Garcia helped to set up a foundation to help support various charities,
the Rex Foundation, which made contributions o numerous social and environmental
causes in need.
39. Garcia was given an ultimatum by the Grateful Dead - to choose between
the band and drugs.
40. Jerry's gaining weight led to an inspirational slogan amongst the fans, "It's
not over until the fat man rocks."
41. Jerry had a strong liking for red and black t-shirts.
42. Jerry had long been a fan of Bob Dylan, and had covered many of Dylan's
songs with both the Jerry Garcia Band and the Grateful Dead.
43. Jerry's first commercial was a 30 second radio advertisement for Levi's
501 jeans - fitingly a San Francisco based company.
44. Garcia won awards for Musician of the Year and Best Guitarist in 1988 at
the Bay Area Music Awards.
45. Jerry was a strong environmental activist - the album Blues from the
Rainforest was a project he worked on to help create awareness for the
diminishing rainforests.
46. While recovering from a diabetic coma in 1986, Garcia recieved over
65,000 calls on the Grateful Dead hotline.
47. Jerry's oldest daughter, Heather, became the first chair violinist
for the Redwood Symphony.
48. Jerry had his first art exhibit in 1991 at the Weir Gallery in Berkley,
California - prices for those works of art ranged from $300 to $40,000.
49. Jerry published a book of his artwork entitled The Book J. Garcia:
Paintings, Drawings, and Sketches.
50. A tie manufacturer was impressed with his artwork and began the production
of J. Garcia Art in Neckwear.
51. Garcia put out more than 30 albums with either the Jerry Garcia Band,
the Grateful Dead, or as a solo performer.
52. Jerry supervised and approved a comic book of the Dead - Grateful Dead
Comix, which featured interpretations of songs and band members as characters.
53. Garcia develped his fondness for country music while listening to the
Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts with his grandmother.
54. "Touch of Grey" was both Jerry's and the Grateful Dead's only top ten hit.
55. Jerry would often smoke as much as three packs of cigarettes a day.
56. Jerry recieved his first guitar at the age of 15.
57. While on a fishing trip in 1948, Jerry saw his father swept away to his
death in a California river.
58. Jerry believed his life began after a 1960 auto accident in which a close,
talented friend of his died.
59. Jerry's first idol on the guitar was Chuck Berry.
60. the science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury, was Jerry's favorite author.
61. His first guitar was a Danelectro electric with a tiny Fender amplifier.
62. After his release from the Army, Jerry studied art and painting at the
Art Institute in San Francisco.
63. Garcia held a job as a music teacher at Dana Morgan's Music.
64. Jerry died of a heart attack on August 9, 1995, eight days after his
53rd birthday.
65. Jerry's last recording was a cover of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel #9"
66. Four months after Jerry's death, in December 1995, the remaining band members
stated they would never perform again as the Grateful Dead.
67. Jerry sang the national anthem for the San Francisco Giants on opening
day in 1993.
68. Jerry did musical and sound effects for the movie Invasion of the Body
Snatchers.
69. Sting, the lead singer from the rock group Police, called Garcia, "Father
Christmas."
70. Jerry and the Dead played before more people and played more years than
any other music combo in history.
71. Vice-President Al Gore gave Garcia a personal tour of the White House.
72. One of Jerry's favorite pastimes was scuba diving.
73. Jerry has four children - all daughters.
74. Jerry played the lead guitar and sang vocals for the Grateful Dead.
75. The Warlocks name was taken from an Egyptian prayer Garcia discovered
in a dictionary.
76. Jerry's parents owned a bar in San Francisco - The Four Hundred Club,
named for its location, 400 First Street.
77. Jerry earned three merit badges in the Boy Scouts: for knot tying,
compass reading, and life-saving.
78. Tiff was the nickname Jerry called his older brother Clifford.
79. Jerry was court-martialed twice while in the Army.
80. Jerry's mother, Ruth Garcia, was a registered nurse.
81. Jerry played several instruments including the saxophone, piano, banjo
and guitar.
82. One of Jerry's first jobs was picking apricots and beans in a local field.
83. One person Jerry wanted to play with was the legendary Bill Monroe, but he
never got the chance.
84. Jerry's mother really wanted Jerry to be a girl; she already had one boy
and wanted a daughter.
85. Garcia became a regular on the radio broadcast of The Midnight Special, a
folk music show in Berkley, California.
86. Jerry had built up a repertoire of bluegrass tunes, ballads, mountain tunes,
rags, and country blues that he performed on the 5-string banjo.
87. After seeing the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night, Jerry was inspired to
transform his jug band into a rock band.
88. The first gig for the Warlocks was at Magoo's Pizza Parlor.
89. Jerry would practice at any location he could find, sometimes up to ten
hours a day.
90. Jerry's close friend Ken Kesey wrote the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest.
91. Jerry got his first piece of national press in Sing Out magazine.
92. In 1966, the first Grateful Dead record was released - a 45 of "Stealin'."
On the flip side was "Don't Ease Me In."
93. In 1989 Garcia testified about the plight of the rainforests at the
Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
94. Garcia was a fan of surreal art; some of his influences were Max Ernst
and Paul Klee.
95. The album Deadicated, which featured various bands covering Grateful
Dead tunes, was a tribute to the long time team of Jerry Garcia and Bob
Hunter.
96. At a sold-out show on Garcia's 50th birthday, a fan distributed paper
masks and the crowd attempted to sing "Happy Birthday."
97. Jerry maried his third wife, Deborah Koons, on Valentine's Day, 1994.
98. Jerry considered himself one of the best banjo players in America.
99. Half of Jerry's remains were scattered in the Ganges River in India,
a country that Jerry had never visited. The second half of Jerry's remains
were scattered beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.